The Association of Farm and Forestry Contractors in Ireland (FCI) has welcomed the announcement by Minister for Agriculture, Food, and the Marine, Martin Heydon, TD, of the funding for the Fuel Income Support Scheme for Agricultural and Forestry Contractors. The details of the new scheme comes after a series of meetings between Agricultural and Forestry Contractor representatives, and the Departments of Finance and Agriculture, Food, and the Marine, where the impact of the significant increases in fuel costs on the survival of the sector were clearly highlighted.
“The combination of this new Fuel Income Support Scheme and the reduction in Excise Duty on green diesel, which together equates to a reduction of €274 for every 1,000 litres of green diesel, is very welcome for our Agricultural and Forestry Contractor sector at a time of very significant inflation cost pressures,” said Ann Gleeson Hanrahan, Managing Director of FCI. “While this Government initiative is very welcome, it only goes part of the way to alleviating the huge inflation costs increases, in terms of fuel, lubrication oils, AdBlue and replacement machinery costs, all of which the Agricultural and Forestry Contractor sector has had to endure in recent months,” she added.
FCI has welcomed the fact that up to 1,500 full-time Agricultural and Forestry contractors are expected to be eligible for this Fuel Income Support Scheme. Once the scheme is open, Agricultural and Forestry Contractors will be eligible to receive payments to cover the months of March 2026, up to the end of July 2026 which includes the busy first cut silage harvest period.
“FCI is urging all members to plan now for the Fuel Income Support Scheme which is expected to be open for applications in mid-May 2026, for a 3-4 week window of applications,” said Ann Gleeson Hanrahan, Managing Director of FCI. FCI understands that payments will follow in the form of a single payment covering the full period, rather than monthly instalments. “At FCI we have provided all FCI members with an easy to use Excel Workbook to help to manage their fuel supplier invoices in preparation for the opening of the Fuel Income Support Scheme,” she added.
“We are now urging all FCI members to prepare now for the introduction of the Fuel Income Support Scheme for Agricultural and Forestry Contractors, where we understand that the maximum payment is expected to be €50,000 based on a self-declaration from 2025 receipts or statements from oil suppliers,” she added.
“The Irish Government’s recognition of the essential role of the Agricultural and Forestry Contractor sector by being included in this Fuel Income Support Scheme, is also a very significant milestone for the Irish Agricultural and Forestry Contractor sector. It is a reward for the time and effort invested in developing FCI to this level since 2012,” said Ann Gleeson Hanrahan, Managing Director of FCI.
“FCI will continue work with the newly formed Department of Agriculture, Food, and the Marine’s Contractor Working Group, on behalf of Agricultural and Forestry Contractors, to develop training, support and taxation measures for our sector. Our teams will continue to support new opportunities that may exist through wider use of Agricultural and Forestry Contractor services to support a sustainable agriculture and forestry sector,” she said.
The Fuel Income Support Scheme package, which will be run by the Department of Agriculture, Food, and the Marine, will consist of €100 million (of which €15 million is for fisheries) in fuel supports and is in addition to earlier measures announced by the Tánaiste and Minister O’Brien including a 7.4 cent Excise Tax reduction in green diesel (Marked Gas Oil) used for agriculture, forestry and fishery applications, until the end of July.
Agricultural and Forestry Contractors will be eligible to receive a one-off lump-sum payment of approximately 20 cent per litre (€200 per 1,000 litres) of green diesel (MGO) used in 2025, on top of the 7.4 cent per litre Excise Tax reduction. The levels of funding provided will be directly linked to their fuel usage last year (2025) to ensure those most impacted by the fuel price increase receive the greatest assistance. The DAFM has confirmed that payments will be made through a single application process.
